KABC-TV(WHITTIER, Calif.) — One police officer was killed and another injured after they were shot while responding to a traffic accident earlier Monday in California.
The officers had responded to the crash where a driver, who police said was driving a stolen car, rear-ended multiple other vehicles in Whittier, California around 8 a.m.
Lt. John Corina, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, said that the unnamed suspect moved his car around the corner after the accident. When officers arrived on scene, the other drivers indicated that the suspect had moved his car.
“When they got the call, it was just a traffic accident and they didn’t know what they had,” Corina told reporters. “When they went to contact him that’s when the shooting happened.”
Corina said that suspect, a “known gang member,” was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and opened fire first on the officers, striking them. The officers then returned fire, wounding the suspect, officials said.
Both officers and the suspect were hospitalized after the shooting and one officer died at the hospital. The surviving officer and suspect are currently in stable condition, according to Corina.
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